# Question out of curiousity: homograph of & (and operators in general)
**URL:** https://forum.ada-lang.io/t/question-out-of-curiousity-homograph-of-and-operators-in-general/4815
**Category:** General
**Created:** [October 10, 2026, 3:06pm UTC](https://forum.ada-lang.io/t/question-out-of-curiousity-homograph-of-and-operators-in-general/4815 "2026-10-10T15:06:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BlueAlmost](https://forum.ada-lang.io/u/BlueAlmost)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2026, 3:06pm UTC](https://forum.ada-lang.io/t/question-out-of-curiousity-homograph-of-and-operators-in-general/4815/1 "2026-10-10T15:06:45Z")
While experimenting, I came across the “homograph clash issue”, which brought a question. An concrete example: first snippet works fine, the second give compile error.
```ada
with Ada.Containers; use Ada.Containers;
with Ada.Containers.Vectors;
procedure Q_good is
package Int_Vectors is new Ada.Containers.Vectors (Positive, Integer);
use Int_Vectors;
V : Vector := 1 & 11 & 111;
begin
null;
end Q_good;
```
However, removing `use Int_Vectors` and using the dot notation produces compile error (below):
```ada
with Ada.Containers; use Ada.Containers;
with Ada.Containers.Vectors;
procedure Q_bad is
package Int_Vectors is new Ada.Containers.Vectors (Positive, Integer);
V : Int_Vectors.Vector := 1 & 11 & 111;
begin
null;
end Q_bad;
```
`gcc -c q_bad.adb q_bad.adb:6:33: error: invalid operands for concatenation q_bad.adb:6:33: error: maybe "and" was meant gnatmake: "q_bad.adb" compilation error`
In this example the compiler is interpreting the `&` as a homograph for **and** , which explains the need for “use” clause ,
But, this makes me wonder: How would one signify that the ampersand should be associated with the package Int\_Vectors ? I tried variations on `Int_Vectors.&` etc. with no luck.
---
### Author:  [@AdaOrbit](https://forum.ada-lang.io/u/AdaOrbit)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://forum.ada-lang.io/t/question-out-of-curiousity-homograph-of-and-operators-in-general/4815/2 "2026-10-10T15:40:45Z")
```ada
with Ada.Containers; use Ada.Containers;
with Ada.Containers.Vectors;
procedure Q_bad is
package Int_Vectors is new Ada.Containers.Vectors (Positive, Integer);
V : Int_Vectors.Vector := Int_Vectors."&" (Int_Vectors."&" (1, 11), 111);
begin
null;
end Q_bad;
```
If you look into the definition of Ada.Containers.Vectors, the “&” operator is defined there. Specifically [http://www.ada-auth.org/standards/22rm/html/RM-A-18-2.html](http://www.ada-auth.org/standards/22rm/html/RM-A-18-2.html) Line 15/5 and following
---
### Author:  [@dmitry-kazakov](https://forum.ada-lang.io/u/dmitry-kazakov)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://forum.ada-lang.io/t/question-out-of-curiousity-homograph-of-and-operators-in-general/4815/3 "2026-10-10T15:48:57Z")
> [@BlueAlmost](#):
>
> I tried variations on `Int_Vectors.&` etc. with no luck.
Operator name is quoted when used as a name, i.e. `Int_Vectors."&"`. (The relevant RM part is 4.1 where _operator\_symbol_ defined as _string\_literal_.)
Then instead of a full use clause you can try `use type Int_Vectors.Vector` to make _&_ and other operations on Vector visible.
---
### Author:  [@BlueAlmost](https://forum.ada-lang.io/u/BlueAlmost)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://forum.ada-lang.io/t/question-out-of-curiousity-homograph-of-and-operators-in-general/4815/4 "2026-10-10T17:19:32Z")
Thank you for both replies. I had totally forgotten to check the Ada Reference Manual.
Sorry about that. But, my embarrassment will serve to remind me to do this in the future!
---
### Author:  [@OneWingedShark](https://forum.ada-lang.io/u/OneWingedShark)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2026, 6:50pm UTC](https://forum.ada-lang.io/t/question-out-of-curiousity-homograph-of-and-operators-in-general/4815/5 "2026-10-10T18:50:27Z")
> [@BlueAlmost](#):
>
> In this example the compiler is interpreting the `&` as a homograph for **and** , which explains the need for “use” clause
Nope: `&` and `and` are two different operators.
(Yes, `renames` can be used [by the type’s author] to make them the same, but this is not _necessarily_ the case.)
---
### Author:  [@BlueAlmost](https://forum.ada-lang.io/u/BlueAlmost)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2026, 7:03pm UTC](https://forum.ada-lang.io/t/question-out-of-curiousity-homograph-of-and-operators-in-general/4815/6 "2026-10-10T19:03:52Z")
Yes, you are right, I was confusing the error message about `maybe "and" was meant`.